Category: Grave

Saturday, Nov. 6, 2004
US Marines of the 1st Division stage a chariot race reminiscent of the Charlton Heston movie-complete with confiscated Iraqi horses at their base outside Fallujah, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 6 , 2004. For U.S. Marines tapped to lead an expected attack on insurgent-held Fallujah, the bags have been packed, trucks have been loaded and final letters have been sent, leaving one final task – the ‘Ben-Hur.’ (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004
Army Nurse supervisor Parrick McAndrew tries to save the life of an American soldier by giving him CPR upon arrival at a military hospital in Baghdad, Iraq Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004 but the soldier died. The soldier was fatally wounded in a Baghdad firefight with insurgents. (AP Photo/John Moore)

“I didn’t have to convince him or anything… Without me prompting him, he brought it up,” [emphasis, mine] White House communications director Dan Bartlett on the president’s press conference last week. (From, President Feels Emboldened, Not Accidental, After Victory, by Elizabeth Bumiller, The New York Times, Nov. 8, 2004.)
“Letting the Child Train Himself
“A very forward, independent, and imitative child would be a good candidate for this method, and self-motivated children (who are also ready) usually train easily.
* Give the child a potty,
* show him what it’s for,
* tell him he can use it instead of diapers when he wants to.
* Then wait without prompting or pressure until the child asks to use it, and give help as requested.
* This works nicely for easygoing parents/caregivers who can be patient with what might be a long process, or whose priority is minimizing struggles between themselves and the child.” [emphasis, again, mine] (From, Potty Training, Nanny.com)

It’s common to place ads in articles or TV shows to reach a target demographic, but this in-line advertisement which is embedded in a story in the Washington Times about a Georgia man who killed himself at the site of the World Trade Center might be a little too targeted:

The President is probably assured of a filibuster-proof Senate after the next mid-term elections if all the Democrats kill themselves, move to Canada, or secede.

Some of His Best Friends: President Bush and Justice Clarence Thomas
BUSH CONSIDERS CLARENCE THOMAS FOR CHIEF JUSTICE, XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN NOV 07, 2004 19:02:37 ET XXXXX
Bush may tap Hispanic and black for key jobs, Stormfront White Nationalist Community

Election Night at MCCXXIII: Women are from red states, men are from blue.
Which might explain what’s happening next to the TV on the left.

“They are cheap, easily concealed, small enough to hoist on a shoulder and can shoot a passenger jet out of the sky. And now, it appears, terrorists may have access to another 4,000 of them…”

More missiles for terrorists?, USA Today, Nov. 7, 2004

David Brooks lectures his liberal colleagues among the “commentariat” today for fostering simplistic narratives about the slim majority that voted Republican last Tuesday. As Brooks explains, things are more nuanced: “there is an immense diversity of opinion within regions, towns and families,” he says, and “the values divide is a complex layering of conflicting views.”

So that means that grossly simplified socioeconomic stereotypes are not accurate or useful, and are, in fact, sloppy social analysis used by lazy journalists looking to make a buck? Talk about lowering the scales from our eyes! Thanks for disabusing us of our unsophisticated illusions, Mr. Brooks. Gee, I wonder where we ever got them in the first place…